Jinsoul opened the door. The smell of flowers greeted her. Something else joined it. Sweet. 

She didn’t see any when she stepped inside, but someone stood by the table, arranging fruits into a bowl. Her hair was up and she hummed softly, not having heard the door. Her tunic was purple, the one that Jinsoul wore within the palace. 

Jinsoul had told her that she loved it when she wore it. She loved how the colour went with her deep brown hair. It suited her more than it did Jinsoul. 

It was selfish, but it let Jinsoul think of a time when Jungeun might wear the colours as her own. As a ruler. 

Jinsoul still brushed the thought away, letting it be a warm memory for a future they would not have, but she could dream of. 

“Hi.” Jinsoul walked over. 

Jungeun started, looking up. Her lips slowly formed into a smile.

Jinsoul watched it, letting the curve of it engrave itself into a memory. She was home. 

“Come here?” Jungeun lifted a brow. 

She realised she’d been standing on the other side of the table. She moved around it and went into her arms. 

“You’re early,” Jinsoul said. When she inhaled, she could smell the flowers. Roses? What was it otherwise?

“Training ended sooner.” 

“How’s your leg?” She pulled away, taking her in again. She didn’t look as tired. 

Jungeun smiled, shaking her head slightly. “You ask that too much.”

Jinsoul held her gaze. 

“Better,” Jungeun conceded, lightly squeezing her waist. “I can do more in one set.”

Jinsoul couldn’t help but frown.

“I can’t run,” she said then. “Can’t jump either. I need to train this right.” 

“What if you’re straining yourself too much?”

“Haseul checks in to make sure I don’t.” Then Jungeun lightly kissed her cheek, before letting go of her to take the bowl up from the table. She held it out to her. “And how was your day?” The look in her eyes told Jinsoul that if she tried to fret more, Jungeun would shut her up. She liked that look. 

“Long,” Jinsoul admitted, taking a few grapes, “more planning. Another temple, this time to Venus, but they want to keep it as far from any place with hedonists.” 

Jungeun snorted. “In Rome?”

She smiled. “They decided to erect one for Juno again.” 

Jungeun’s brow rose again, but she just put the fruit bowl down again, plucking a plum out after. She looked at it before looking back to Jinsoul. 

“What?” Jinsoul asked.

Surprise appeared in her eyes. “What?” she repeated. 

“Who would you make the temple for?” 

Jungeun was quiet for a few seconds more. 

Jinsoul waited. 

“Mercury,” Jungeun said. “And Pluto.” Then she shrugged. "But still another to Venus."

Jinsoul sat down on the lectus to the side. Jungeun went with her, the plum now on the table again. 

“Mercury?” she asked as they sat down. 

Jungeun smiled, looking at her fingers. “I prayed to him,” she started, “when I wrote to you.” She was tapping out a circle over the back of her hand. “That each letter would reach you as fast as it could. Without any word being ruined by rain.” 

Jinsoul nodded once. She knew Jungeun thanked the gods still, prayed to them still, even after they had let her fall into the arena. She knew that a part of Jungeun would think there was another purpose to it. Jinsoul would never tell her of her own feelings to the gods, or the hate she could feel for them, knowing the pain they allowed to happen. Not just to Jungeun. 

“And Pluto?” 

“You don't want to hear that,” Jungeun said softly. “And I don’t want to say it.” She reached for her hand. “But I have thanked him for each day the Fates gave me in the games.” 

Jinsoul pulled her to her side. She didn’t tell her she didn’t want to hear this. She just put her head on Jungeun’s shoulder. “Why do you smell like roses?” There was still something else. Almost like a lemon. She couldn’t place it.

“I,” Jungeun chuckled, “might have gotten Chaewon to get me a better soap. She chose this.”

Jinsoul tapped her nose lightly to Jungeun’s chin. “I like it.” She breathed in, taking in the flowery scent, but the other that she knew belonged only to Jungeun. One she’d barely started to know years ago, but knew better than any other now. She loved it.

“They wouldn’t accept a temple,” Jinsoul said. “But I could suggest an altar for Pluto. Either near here or the academy, but I don’t know if that’d be too morbid.”

“N